HELL ON WHEELS

2009-08-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

In the land of interstates, subdivisions and shopping centers; A romantic-traditionalist such as myself is always hoping to see a return of the American train. Not that passenger rail ever went away completely in the states. There is still the rolling tin can of clickety-clack Amtrack. But what is missed are the great mainline passenger trains that saw their peak sometime between the 1940s and

2009-06-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2009Attorney General Edmund G. BrownState of California DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICEDear Mr. Dow,Thank you for your correspondence to Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr.We have reviewed your correspondence and determined that the following law enforcement agencies are in a much better position to render assistance to you in this matter. If you wish to pursue the matter further, we suggest you

2009-06-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

8th June 2009 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Capitol Building, Sacramento, Calif. 95814 California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, P.O. box 944025, Sacramento 94244-2550 Director of DWV George Valverde, Department of Motor Vehicles, 2415 1st Avenue mail station F 101 Sacramento, CA 95818 Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor@lacity.org

2007-08-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

I learned recently with sadness of the passing of a friend and one-time colleague whom I'd not seen since auld lang syne. Claire Morrisette, the co-founder of Monde a Bicyclette, was a champion of cyclists on the local level. And she carried that message as a sister to the call for global justice and an urgent intervention to save the planetary environment. As far as advancing cyclist's Rights,

2007-08-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

I wonder if there is a new architecture just waiting for city-dwellers to discover it. In every town I visit it seems the locals feel that they have the best urban environment possible. That could be true in the cottages of the Hollywood Hills, or the tenements of Chinatown, N.Y. Everyone seems to see the world around them as naturally occurring.Take the example of Montreal. I'm here for the

2007-06-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

THE HEAT IS ONhere in the city of HELL ON WHEELS. Los Angeles is going to get hot in the summer of 07. And I can only watch and contemplate. The streets here are wild. Every inch of pavement is occupied by cars going to seemingly every other inch of L.A. Unlicenced vehicles are common and enjoy the anonymity of the balaclava. Cars are toys, weapons, prostheses and hearses.It's hard to know where

2007-03-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

A.W.O.L. The Unexcused Absence Of America’s Upper-classes From The Military And How It Hurts Our CountryFrank Schaeffer I heard this author on NPR’s TO THE POINT this afternoon. He makes the case that America’s all-volunteer military has become a warrior-class. Schaeffer likened America’s relationship to the military like that of the Persian Empire, with imperial projects all over the

2007-02-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

I tried an unknown narcotic herb yesterday. At least it was unknown to me. I had only just walked into a friend's livingroom and sat down, when he and two other guys I barely know began to tell me about this stuff they'd all just tried. Salvia Darluria I think it was called. Noah, the kid from Canada pronounced it proudly and knowledgably. Like a lifelong herbalist tells some party-goers about

2007-02-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

What the HELL was that? Two days ago President Bush makes an unexpected visit to the floor of the NYSE.And he gets a hero's welcome. Those guys clapped for ten minutes straight. They clapped and cheered the Texas simpleton like he was F.D.R.Do they know something we don't know?The NYSE is to our American culture what the Oracle at Delphi must have been for the Athenians. Those guys in suits

2007-01-29T00:07:00.000-08:00

The city looks better when I feel better. It's good to socialize you know. Stick out a hand to the guy who's alone. Hey man, what's up? This is especially true when you're with a big rollicking group. That's the best time to include other people in it. By other people I mean passers-by. It becomes a show. I see the tension in people everyday. It's right there locked in struggle with the part that

2007-01-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Sens. McCain and Lieberman were on C-SPAN last night, talking to the press over their impressions (or were they conclusions?) on the war in Iraq. I wondered how much of the expressions they bore were reflecting deep anxiety about the Iraq project. Both senators verbally expressed confidence in a victory over the enemy, and more so they spoke emotionally of the bravery and sacroifice and honor of

2006-12-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the alternative car expo at Santa Monica airport. It was well worth the trip out there. I rode the motorcycle because I know that on a sunday in L.A. seven million people may be trying to drive from one side of town to the other. That's simply not a net I wish to be caught in. The bike can always be manuevered out of the worst traffic. Nevertheless I've long felt that the

2006-05-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

"SIR, THERE ARE NO DOGS ALLOWED IN THE SCHOOL""I know." I yelled back at the young teacher. "It's kind of an emergency."She looked irritated as she began to walk down the hallway towards me."What is your emergency?" She asked me again, walking towards me, but still a good 75 feet away. I sighed."I don't want to yell it down the hall." I called out to her. She finally got to right in front of me.

2006-05-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

I've noticed that some things have begun to change here in Los Angeles. With respect to the immigration reform movement. If you want to call it that. I would say that here in Los is where the immigration rights movement is strongest. And this is where the debate runs hottest.I think I can say that I live right in the heart of the movement. I mean - SoCal right? L.A. county. The east side of

2006-05-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

Now it's hot.I'm smokeless. Hanging out in mid-air. Grinning and then vibrating at turns. It's hard to believe I finally got through one night without walking down to Lee's Liquors and saying Gimme a Goddman pack of Winston Lights! To my friends at the store this is how I am. They know me and they know what fiend I am.Cigarettes made me cool. It was like I'd rewired myself and bypassed everyone

2006-04-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

This damn cabin’s cold.It’s four drafty walls.It’s home for a minerWho’s panning for goldA few sticks and planks,is all it consists,but from cold it protects me‘gainst bears it resists.There are mountains around.Cause I like being alone.The sun goes down early,As the critters surround.Would you mine these streams, If you didn’t like that?At night all you see,Is the gal in your dreams.Not much to

2006-03-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

I didn't manage to wake up on time. I lay for a long time in the warmth undercovers. I was listening to the radio. Watching the time I'd set aside for the morning go away. I show such an undeniable aversion to beginning my day. I must have known something. I was the flower that did not open today. I never managed to be me. I didn't know what to do.I didn't have enough time. It was like I needed

2006-03-21T01:05:00.000-08:00

THE GRIFFITH PARK AND SILVERLAKE RAILROADI got the idea to write an opinion for the local resident’s association newsletter. I’d thought about doing something like this before. I figured I could contact the editor of the little two page community mailbox stuffer. I’d tell him I wanted to write a story about the old guy who lives next door. I saw a story that would tell something about all the

2006-03-16T20:46:00.004-08:00

The Border.There was a goddamn disturbance out the back window a few nights ago. It sure made me mad. Yes it sure as hell did. A dog was barking forever. Tirelessly. And I needed sleep so badly. Like it was going to save my life. And I should say here that it wasn't really that late. Only about 9:30 in the evening. When does the so-called right to quiet begin?I had tried to crash an hour before.

2006-02-26T03:16:00.000-08:00

I watched a scene tonight on the street which goddamned pissed me off. Closing time at this bar. Shitty-British themed pub in Santa Monica. Yes bad. But anyway. I was outside, having a puff on a Bali-Shag, and I see this kid come out the bar, stretch his arms up high. There's something about him which separates the boy, from the scene around him. A soccer shirt. An adidas jacket. Skinny. Big eyes

2006-01-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

I don't know what is up with this blog. Why the text only begins a page down from the header. That is lame. Everything is lame. DSL is the fucking lamest thing out there. Or else the service I have is just particularly unsatisfying. It goes in and out all the time. For days at a time. I'll check my messages at night, and O whoops- page won't load. O never mind the messages. I don't want to deal

2006-01-22T01:03:00.000-08:00

98 VTR 1000 Superhawk - unusual and fast V-twin. - $3800 (Silverlake)Date: 2006-01-22, 12:58AM PSTI hate having to do this, but I'm parting with my 1998 Superhawk. It has 27,500 miles on it, 19,000 of which I put on. It's a sweet city bike. Lots of torque and power. This is a motorcyle for a relatively experienced and confident rider. Definitely not a first bike. But a great street machine and

2006-01-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

I'm just preparing things here. Just getting everything lined up nicely. That's what it's all about.Because I don't know what the next move is. It's not my move. I don't think it is. Shit. Now I don't remember whose move it is. I'd best not let on.I have to tend to my wigwam these-a-days. There's a serious backlog of things to do. This house is distressed. That is not an exaggeration. And I can't

2006-01-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

San Francisco Supervisors Propose Gun BanWed Dec 15, 8:30 PM ET U.S. National - AP By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - City residents will vote next year on a proposed weapons ban that would deny handguns to everyone except law enforcement officers, members of the military and security guards.__________________________________________________________________So what

2005-06-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

The new movieToday we loaded into our hero location in a Beverly Hills canyon estate. We're living thereRight away you could see the electrics have gone way over on everything. Too many lights.They have EIGHT road runner stands... Three six Ks, three 4Ks, two nine light maxis, two twelve light maxis, one head cart full of open face units: mighties and redheads.\The best boy is running the entire

2005-06-18T00:35:00.000-07:00

Che Guevara seems to keep coming up in my life. Or his likeness keeps popping out at me. He's all over T-shirts. And his sticker is on cars. It's not his sticker. But you know what I mean. It's that picture, in which he's sporting the trademark beret, and looking slightly off to one side. And he's on fire. It's the one. It's the Rage Against The Machine album artwork picture. I've seen a

2005-06-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

I got a need to go buy some new records. I think i'm going to get the mamas and the papa's one hit album. There's picture of the four of them in a bathtub, as the cover art. It's a faded color-looking image. Faded eastman color 1960s California. Just the way I like it. My folks had that phonograph, when I was just a wee little thing. Even back then I was struck by how everday-looking those four

2005-05-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

I'm limited now. I'm wearing the chains once again. It's back to will. Living inside head. Not participating in all that's out there.Breathe. Well, I try. It's hard when I'm smoking every moment. How could breath be missing? Terrible cigarettes. Little fucking devils they are. If anything isn responsible for taking my breath, it's those white sticks. Cursed they be. Away vamoos.Snorting like a

2005-05-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

I saw an unforgettable thing today. Like everyday.This time I was out at Santa Monica Pier. I'm talking about the site of the original muscle beach. This is where it all began. Now there are no weights to be seen. I can't imagine what happened to all of that style pumping iron gear that I've seen in films of the place. Maybe they moved it down to Venice. What's left is a loose, free-style workout

2005-05-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

Man, I just can't get back to life without the movie. This real world is boring me already. I was looking forward to finishing. But mainly so I could breathe a sigh of relief that the job had gone more or less okay. You never know with these little movies.We must have done 14 nights straight on this job. There were days off in there, but I never even notice them when we're on nights. I don't

2005-05-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

O man, I've been off the hook. I can hardly believe that I'm back online. Man trhis town just lets me drift and drift. As long as i show up to work on time.I just finished a low budegt horror film, working in the capacity of key grip. How weird. had a great fucking time and made some do re mi. Not bad.I've been having to drive so fucking much. I'm always an hour early for work. That's on-time as

2005-03-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

I learned some very deep meaning about baseball pitching today. It was down at USC campus, near the Vermont Street entrance. On a ball field there we taped an instructional video for young pitchers. The guy conducting the DV workshop was an ex major-leaguer, though one I'd never heard of. He had to be about 48 years old. He was kind of a John Denver-looking type. He even had the little glasses.

2005-03-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

Did anyone notice the plane this guy was flying when he smashed the record for solo flights of phenomenal distances. Whatever. The plane that was painted like virgin airlines. It was on the cover of the L.A. Times. Man breaks solo trans-world record. Rich man. Adventurer, Englishman. It seemed so anachrnoistic in way. Charles Lindbergh. It' so last century. But no,I thought it was fucking

2005-02-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

I spent the night fighting the rain again. I never thought it could rain so much in L.A. They said on the radio this morning there were three deaths in the city due to this storm. Just in the last two days. They also said L.A. has received twice as much rain as Seattle this year. So much for living in the desert.I had a fairly large and important gutter project I wanted to bust out yesterday. I

2005-02-12T18:52:00.000-08:00

Got to know when to say Fuck YouMe was taken to school the last couple day or two. But I'm afraid I didn't learn anything. Problem was I. Could not see the lessons for having - well, the biggest blindspot you can imagine. I didn't see what is now obvious about the people I was dealing with. And so I was drained by them. It was like some big executioner/priest pinned my skull against a stone

2005-02-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

Ruben Ponce. 6am, having coffee and a roll from the roach-coach.

2005-02-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

The dudes from Jalisco. Manuel and Tomas, cooking up some vittles.

2005-02-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

My neigbhor's kid Eliana, showing off her iguana.

2005-02-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

Who won the Superbowl? Not that I really care. But it is something that people ask. What was I doing instead? I was kicking it with the neigbhors. I don't do bullshit sport holidays. O, maybe I once or twice did. I thought it would be nice to fit in. But it's not something I take very seriously. I managed to wake up at 4:45 am and meet Ponce in his driveway for the trip to the Swap-Meet. I'd

2005-02-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

O TRAJUS SANCTUS TRABAJUS VALOROSUS VENGA MENGA KAVENGA

2005-01-31T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Gods of work

2005-01-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles, give me some of you. Los Angeles come to me the way I came to you, my feet over your streets, you pretty town I loved you so much, you sad flower in the sand, you pretty town. John Fante (fr. "Ask the Dust")

2005-01-10T01:19:00.000-08:00

Goddamn tragedy struck last night. My housemate was away. With friends in lancaster. And our two dogs were alone at the house. I was at a dinner party. I got home with the usual post dinner party blah. Parked. Came in the house. No dogs. What is going on? I started calling their names, going from room to room. Making a thorough scan of the spaces. Mind registering the absence of - dogs. It was

2004-12-18T11:17:00.000-08:00

The kid who works down at my local Korean liquor store has become more and more open with me. His family took over the store eight months ago, and they are experiencing severe difficulties. Among other things that they are losing the store for lack of receipts. Apparently no one is buying beer and cigarettes there - besides myself. Some afternoons when I drop in the store he is very despondent.

2004-12-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

Cold here. Cold and damp. Everything stopped, a week ago. It got really quiet It's easy to forget that every day is a new day. Another day. Another chance to make an entrance. Cold. I don't say that very much. Don't encounter it much. I was trying to explain to someone, the cosmic pivot between what makes things hot or cold. Can everything be reduced to one or the other of the two. Hot. It's

2004-11-27T16:11:00.000-08:00

It occurs to me I'd rather have, Somewhere else to go. Somewhere sacred and windy, Sanctified. Not this cafe. Wanting to be free of my own life, A freak in that sense. Crazy eyes. Wild, drug- crazed. My life is a prison. My head, Is four walls of a cell, And saying so don't make it, Any other way. There's a clown in me, that wants to bring laughter to faces, and music and trust. Not, The rifle

2004-10-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

Rain. So much rain. It started two days ago and I was not ready for it. I idled away the summer days. I fixed a gutter and tried out some drainage theories here and there. But when the rain came it was in sheets. There was hale too. The walls creaked all during this. I have to explain. This house for the most part has no foundation. It was not meant to last this long. It was just a stick house

2004-10-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'm awake kind of early this morning. It's a big day. I'm stepping up from Gaffer to Director of Photograhy for the last two days of this film. My boss had to go away and do a union commercial, and so he is leaving me to complete the photography. The cool thing is that we are shooting film rather than video or HD. It's 35mm with sprocket holes. So I get to look through a glass eye-piece rather

2004-10-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I never told the story about going to play paintball in Long Island. For a bachelor party it was. So damn funny. I only knew one or two of the guys. Well maybe more. They were mostly all New York construction guys. They're all Haley's crew. Make their living doing big budget remodels in manhattan. I'd worked on a couple of jobs with some of them. Then there were three quiet guys

2004-10-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

Noticed something new recently. They're reconfiguring all these banks in L.A. Two of the Washington Mutual branches I've visited this week had high-tech new security systems installed. Whereas before you would barge right in and nod to the security guard before getting into the long line: Now you wait in a long line outside, to pass through a smoked glass vestibule with a metal detector in it.

2004-09-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

I got some tickets on KCRW to go see Singin' In The Rain at the egyptian theatre tonight. Debbie Reynolds was to be in attendance, and was engaged to make an appearance and do the Q&A thing. It turned out to be fun. Singin' In The Rain is such a magical film. It gets weird. Beautiful. I think the best number is Gotta Dance! A young hick kid dances right up to broadway, singing to everybody that

2004-09-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Here' something interesting. The bible. I try to do this prescribed read-the-bible-in-two-years program as doggedly as I can. But the truth is I miss more often than I get around to it. Two weeks may go by, and then I find the day's date in the two year guide. I open the book and see what I find. Yesterday was cool. The First Book of Corinthians. Yesterday's reading assignment was chapter XIII.

2004-08-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is how it's going to end. it will just be over. Like a death. Nothing spectacular. The summer's end is being heralded by a girl with brown hair who doesn't smile. That's the sign. It's done. What could be clearer? Bodies go on living. Reproducing themselves for the length of their course. But this is over. This is just an idea. A shared kingdom. Created for two. Oh what the fuck. It's the

2004-08-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

RELAXED CONCENTRATION Second show today. Matinee. Matinees are hard. This was print number 2/5. Perhaps better forgotten. We were the first show of the day. "Door in five minutes." The stage-manager said. Suddenly it's time to go. I have three wardrobe changes, in a tiny dark hallway behind the curtain. In that moment it seems hard to connect the piles of wrinkled clothes, stuffed in a plastic

2004-08-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had our last rehearsal of Shivah/Proper. Until saturday at 10:30pm each of the four of us can do our own thing. What a process this has been. What a. Nothing could have prepared me to act. Shivah may as well have been the first play I ever undertook. What I do seems to be going over with the company. They tell me good things. There's no explaining this. I will do speed-throughs

2004-08-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

HOW DO YOU MAKE YOURSELF WEEP? In this dream last night I was in montreal, driving in a little red mustang convertible. I was very pleased to have the car, but also afraid of it bringing trouble to me. I was with some old friend and we were trying to get across town when we were stopped by a line of riot police. I stopped the car and tried to signal to the cops that we just wanted to get through

2004-08-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

THE BEST THING I EVER DID WAS ALSO THE WORST. At least as far as motorcycles are concerned. And it happened last night. Well, it happened this morning to be totally factual about things. This morning meaning when I woke up. But that was actually yesterday. These sorts of things never seemed so complex when I was a kid. OLD FRIENDS. They are coming up out of everywhere. Last night I found myself

2004-07-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

I watched a great baseball game tonight. I totally get baseball - again. I mean the last time I cared about baseball, such as developing a relationship with the players and the TEAMS, was when i was twelve years old. The Boston Red Sox are such an interesting team. I have a lot of friends from Connecticut, new Jersey and that part of the country, and they're all huge redsox fans. Today, watching

2004-07-19T03:21:00.000-07:00

NOTE TO TO SELF - NEVER EAT POT COOKIE AGAIN AS LONG AS YOU LIVE! DO YOU COPY? Wow. Boy was this last week ever weird. It seemed to pass by like something that fell off the roof. I had to go back to LA last friday for a job with Keith that we'd planned weeks ago. I'd booked my return friday afternoon, thinking that i'd have the evening to relax and I could show up for keith's show refreshed and

2004-07-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that i'm coming up on the 100th blog marker. That's unbelievable to me. It seems like only yesterday I was *trying it on*; looking for a voice. i wondered what kinds of thoughts and ideas would lend themselves to the format. And now - oh how we've grown! Ha ha ha. But these are my favorite writing pieces I've ever done. I'm not certain of this, but i believe that it's

2004-05-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

The last flashes of my time in Mexico are only glowing now. I've received a few e-mails from friends there, all promising to come up to California, or else insisting that I return to the D.F. It's almost as if I wasn't ever there. I feel the weight of emotion on my chest. The loss of so much new love and life. I had to remember why I went there in the first place: It was a job. And now the job

2004-05-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Oye que desmadre es esta programa..! Mexico. I don't know how much more I can take. I had always heard that this land was more akin to a civilization than a mere country. Now I have this place running through me like a dialysis. I wish I had written more but i was too busy working and trying to finish the damn show honorably. From the first day we loaded in our trucks to the hero villa in Las

2004-04-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Damn my email's been corrupted by the neon sleaze of pop-up ads. Like a vine these things grew into my mail and browser so that I have full page smut with no functioning close buttons. It juts goes to show you that things break down. The weeds start creeping. I get this abnormally high sprint bill which has a surprising new added service. PCS Vision premium Pack $15.95/month I called right

2004-03-30T22:56:00.000-08:00

I've been out skating at night. I went last night and another night about a week ago. Before I settled on my present skate spot I spent a long time looking for a place suitable for my particular brand of *shredding*. It had to be sufficiently close to the house that I didn't need to drive there, but it also had to be private enough that i could work out without feeling self-conscious. The

2004-03-26T12:47:00.000-08:00

I've got this idea to recreate my oldsmobile as an Italian rallye vehicle. It all started with yellow striped tires. A sporty old American car pretty much has to have a white wall. That's what everyone says. But then I thought to myself, what's the matter with a yellow band on the tire wall, to offset the racey green paint job. No one does that. It's awesome. My buddy Mike Gonzalez out in

2004-03-14T22:31:00.000-08:00

I worked the whole damn weekend in my garage (the hacienda) trying to get some of my stuff in there organized. jesus how boring can a weekend be? My little 22 year old roomate went galivanting around the town with her friends. Would I switch with her - and feel fabulous? Talking, hanging out, going to bars and clubs? Hell no, of course I wouldn't. It's fucking boring and there's nothing out on

2004-02-21T00:33:00.000-08:00

So I learned I’m still stuck in my own head. I’ve always been stuck in my own head, except for a few hours of escape I achieved via sex or hallucinogens. The pilot house of this vehicle, if you could call me that, is my upper palate. You can sit right on down there In the captain’s chair, and take me for a spin. Look through my eyes – they’re a split windshield. My septum is the dash board. It

2004-02-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

MONTREAL EXPOS TO MOVE TO MONTERREY, MEX That's what I'm hearing in these parts. Sunday afternoon I was bored as usual and so I walked next door to mooch some barbequed meat from my neighbor Manuel. There were a few geezers over there, drinking beer in manuel's backyard. These guys are serious norteno cowboys. They're all related - suegros and cunados. They hail from Jalisco. They're pretty good

2003-10-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

It's witheringly hot in Los Angeles this week. The heat has brought ants. I left a couple of water-logged dog food kibbles in the bottom of the sink this morning, and when I went to make lunch there was a dense black line of ants in the process of disassembling them and carrying them off. I can't deal with this kind of heat. Evenings are nice though; sultry, but cooled by gusty desert winds.

2003-09-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

Today I got a very slick package in the mail from Nissan Motor company. It was delivered in a hardback boxset type of jacket, of material of such uncertain origin that I was not sure whether to trash it or recycle it. It turns out this is a presentation of Nissan's new line of automobiles, in case I care to buy another one. Those guys... Inside the *boxset* there are six or seven fold out

2003-09-13T16:25:00.001-07:00

I really could not believe I made it. Today at 11am, with an hour to spare I rolled into the chainlink encircled compound of Dependable Auto Shipping in Linden, New Jersey. The last hour and a half of the drive was the most nerve-wracking I'd ever spent in a car. It was the rain that made things so crazy. Yesterday after the wedding ceremony, mathew (the groom) and I went swimming in the choppy

2003-09-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

2003-09-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm just sitting not believing that I made it here. Today I left montreal, Waverly St. and the neighbours who always sit out smoking and juicing and shooting the shit. Behind me are those trees with little round green leaves that always seem to shimmer in the breeze, which comes all the way from the north pole. We made it to the American border, where the men carry live guns, and they will mess

2003-07-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

IS ENVIRONMENTALISM THE NEW RELIGION? I was talking with a friend yesterday about such matters, and I was struck by the extent to which she sounded like a doomsayer. Concerning the ozone layer, she stressed that if we did not repent (stop burning fossil fuels) then we would live to see fire come down from the heavens (global warming) and the seas would rise to drown all but the faithful (

2003-07-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Last night I had this dream I was in Montreal. It was snowing - wet and sloppy - and there were people everywhere out in the streets and on the corners. On what dreamily resembled the corner of Villeneuve and Jeanne Mance there was a little American-style diner that seemed to have a hip scene gravitating to it, and I decided to drop in. I felt somewhat self-conscious and out of sorts, and I

2003-07-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

These are some of the things I see in my day.. There is a pair of Mourning Doves that come everyday and pick grubs from the little garden in front of Raf's place. I'm pretty sure they're a husband and wife team; I really appreciate them a lot, even though they take flight when ever I come around. They're a nice young couple - just starting out as I see it. The problem is a couple of

2003-07-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

THE SONG OF THE FOUNDATION DIGGER I'm wishing tonight I could just dissapear, and vanish from everyone's sight. I simply too proud to crumble before them, and seeing that I'm wretched and useless- Well dammit, Turns out all this time they were right. I show up for life, as I've done in the past, It's a habit one can't put away. But inside there's a feeling which aches in my soul, a pain I'll

2003-06-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

A mind is a terrible thing to have.

2003-06-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

La vie c'est le desir, Ralenti par le memoire Le futur et le passe luttent, Pour l'instant. Enfin C'est ce que compose le seul moteur de nos reves

2003-06-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

CRAZY. I got swept up into a massive, hooligan motorycle rally last night. I'd just made a big yawn inside my helmet, as I rode north on LaBrea, when all of a sudden there are hundreds of roaring, smoking, tuned-up, tricked-out Jap sportbikes passing by in the opposite direction. I hesitated, watching the massive pool of riders dominate every lane, like a school of Piranas. Some of the riders

2003-06-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

I'm getting crushed by Yahoo right now. Two weeks ago I was slightly dismayed to find that my old password would not get me into my e-mail account. Since then I have become more anxious about it. I have not been able to pick up mail for two weeks. I have no idea wha's going on in there. And the worst thing is that it feels a bit too much like this was no accidental screw up. I suspect there

2003-06-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

QUITTING SMOKING AGAIN Why do I fucking do it? Now I've got a habit built up, and I can feel the tingle inside me, of all the cells reworking themselves into non-smoking mode. Agh, it sucks: It sucks and yet I like it. I like anything that's different. Yesterday I got it in my head to take the dog for a run on the beach. That's something I was doing often, just before I left the Bay Area.

2003-05-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

I just saw a serious motorcycle accident at the Silverlake reservoir. It wasn't but 40 minutes ago. I managed to actually see the mishap because of a distinct crunch sound from behind a stand of trees. The sound was obviouisly motorcycle plastics impacting - it was obvious to me - but then I found that odd, as I've never heard motorcycle plastics breaking. Perhaps I'd heard the bike from a ways

2003-05-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today marked a first in my blogging life: I received a phone call over a blog/comment string. I find myself wondering if this blogging can still possibly be a good venture, . How far will the debate go, I wonder. How deep do our ideas run? I've arrived at the conclusion that I must be addicted to politics. Like a Rubic's cube, it's a puzzle that I keep trying to put together. Sometimes I even

2003-05-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it was broadcast nationally, but there was an interesting feature on KPCC a day or two ago, about the future of the head-first slide in baseball. It seems the Major leagues is looking into discouraging the practice, as it has the potential for season-ending injuries. The most common such injury is jammed fingers (owww!), but of course the player's eyes, nose, teeth,

2003-05-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GETTING LOCKED IN A RESTROOM during a party at someone's (one bedroom) house? That's what I was asking myself, as I tried the old Victorian key for the 11th time. How stupid can you get right? As I hunched down before the old lockset, and made another attempt to find the mechanical sweetspot inside the box-lock. I could hear voices outside in the yard; laughter

2003-05-13T00:06:00.000-07:00

I went to see WINGED MIGRATION a couple of nights ago. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a poetic documentary film about migrating birds. I was very stirred by it, and on many different levels. In that respect it was like everything else these days. The remarkable thing about the film is the proximity they achieved to the birds. The filmakers literaly accompamnied the birds in ultra-light

2003-05-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

I AM SO DONE WITH COMPACT DISCS I'm really ready to get out of that loop. What a fucking sham those things are! Including hardware, I've probably spent $2500 on CD shit since the mid-90s, and half of them won't play without skipping. They're basically trash now. I could rant about the music industry, the distributors... Even the damn artists.They're all pretty much the same in that

2003-05-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

I was reading this morning that Bush is coming out in support of the Assault Weapons ban - to the chagrin of the N.R.A., and much of his heartland constituency. The guy just keeps you guessing doesn't he? I actually have a pretty good understanding of the assault weapons ban, and I'm pretty mch in favor of it as well - I only wish I'd bought an AR-15 lower receiver before Dec. 31 2000. I was

2003-05-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

I think I will be writing a lot more about the problem of crime in Los Angeles. Just now, listening to KPCC, I heard it announced that L.A. led the nation in homicides. I'm nort sure how they measure that kind of thing, becasue the title of *murder capital* seems to move around the country like a wild west show. East St. Louis, Detroit and New Orleans are usually the other contenders for the

2003-05-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

I CALLED THE COPS LAST NIGHT, which is a first for me in Los Angeles. I had hoped to do that less once I moved out of the Mission Dist. But this was really weird. About 10:30pm, The dog awoke on the floor, and began to bark, albeit low and hesitatingly. At the same moment I heard voices from outside, across the street. Two or three men were talking - swearing, though it did nothave a threatening

2003-05-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

One of my rare current-events blogs. I don't know why but I thought this was quite an interesting, newsworthy story, buried under an inauspicous headline. U.S. TRADE CHIEF LABORS TO MEND RIFT WITH EUROPE OVER WAR (LA Times 5/3/03) This does not seem like breaking news. It's been the gyst of one story after another. The interesting thing was the mention of a mini-summit held by "The

2003-05-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Went to see CITY OF GHOSTS last night at the Arc-light. I highly reccomend this film! *Out there* is the best I can describe it. I had set out to see the 9:45 showing of a French documentary on migrating birds, but the ticket sellor informed me that it was not open yet. My expecttions were somewhat low for CITY OF GHOSTS, and 20 minutes into it I was considering walking out. The first part

2003-04-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

I lost two blogs in a row. It has shaken my bogging life down to the boiler room. What kind of scoundrel is trying to silence me? Bob, have you rewired this thing? Has anyone strange been around your computer?

2003-04-19T03:01:00.000-07:00

Today seemed to be the day of saying: enough is enough. Let's dispense with the kid leather... Get down to some nogahyde. At some point during the weekend that I packed up my apartment in San Francisco, I was sitting on the porchhaving a smoke when a neigbhour approached me from across the street. It was pretty late, like around 11:30. The guy was somene I saw around and exchanged pleasantries

2003-04-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Watching Baby play at the dogrun I got to thinking... That in the future we will likely see a greater tendency towards an international socialist system - despite the present conservative trend. What with all the nation remodelling the "coalition" is undertaking (Iraq is what's known as a tear-down), there will probably be a merging of the duties of the U.N. and the big international lending and

2003-04-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

I'm formulating a theoretical viewpoint of sorts, that the true gulf that separates East from West is the notion of perfection. (Now I'm not an anthro[pologist, except in the general, human longing for knowledge way). Me and a friend were looking a a Persian rug, and he pointed out the deliberate flaws in the geometrical designs... As it is prohibido to attempt perfection - You leave that for

2003-04-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

Raf and I watched The Big Lebowski a few nights back. I had seen it before, when it came out; but this time I really got into it. It's one of the best hommages to the whole L.A. trip in the filmic history of this town. Raf mentioned that he'd sen a list compliled in some magazine of the 20 best films about L.A. Chinatown came out at number 1 and L.A. Confidential was up in the top 5. But

2003-03-31T00:37:00.000-08:00

I WAS POSSESSED Around 9:15 tonight, I talked on the phone with a chap who was interested in selling me something, which I happened to be interested in buying. The thing itself is not really germaine to the story I'm telling. The guy's e-mail was devil@blahblah.com, and he answered the phone by annoncing his name - Del. Hence Devil. I talked to this very animated, if not altogether

2003-03-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

My dog seems to be acting very strange these days. He seems sad all the time. I know that all dogs can at times be - hang dog-like; but it seems different with Baby. The dog just has damn issues and I have to tell myself over and over that it has nothing to do with me. Last night I was sitting in my livingroom listening to a record. My hands were occupied with something, and the dog